Florida Sentinel Bulletin

ARLINGTON, Va. — Washington Capitals players tapped the ice with sticks when Joel Ward skated onto the rink for practice last Friday, and some fans rose for a standing ovation in support of the player whose series-winning goal was greeted with a racial outburst on Twitter.

The 31-year-old left wing, one of a handful of black players in the NHL, was the target of numerous degrading tweets after he scored in overtime of Game 7 on Wednesday to end the first-round series against the 2011 champion, Boston Bruins.

The hockey community has rallied around Ward. Both the Bruins and the NHL quickly condemned the tweets, as did Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, who wrote on his blog: “Shame on these folks who decided to take to their keyboards and show their ignorance and their racism and hate.”

“There’s been a lot of support from everybody, especially my teammates and the whole organization and the Bruins, and some of their fans,” Ward said. “I was blown away by the amount of people and the amount of support.”

There is irony in this OT game winning goal coming against Boston and the reaction from Bruins “fans.” Ward scored the goal against Tim Thomas, the goaltender who refused to attend the White House celebration of the Bruins’ championship because of his disdain of President Obama.

NEW YORK — Former Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Delmon Young was arrested Friday on a hate crime harassment charge after police said he got into a fight with a group of men and yelled anti-Semitic epithets.

Young, who currently plays for the Detroit Tigers, was standing outside of the Hilton New York at about 1:30 a.m., where he was staying ahead of a series with the New York Yankees that starts Friday night. Nearby, a group of about four Chicago tourists staying at the hotel were approached by a panhandler wearing a yarmulke and a Star of David around his neck. After, as the group walked up to the hotel doors, Young started yelling anti-Semitic epithets, police said.

An Ohio jury has found former NFL linebacker Nate Webster guilty of four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a conviction that could result in Webster being sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

Webster was also charged with gross sexual imposition and sexual battery, but was acquitted on those charges. He was also acquitted on a fifth count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

Prosecutors accused Webster of having a sexual relationship with a girl when she was 15 and he was in his 30s, and of threatening to kill her and her family if she told anyone. Webster admitted he had sex with the girl, but claimed it was consensual and that the sexual relationship began after she turned 16, which is the age of consent in Ohio.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – The Los Angeles Lakers Metta World Peace (Ron Artest) deprived his team of his services as their starting small forward and defensive stopper for at least six playoff games while he serves his 10th suspension in the past decade.

The NBA suspended World Peace for seven games on Tuesday for the inexplicable blow that gave James Harden a concussion, keeping the former Ron Artest sidelined for most of the first postseason round.

ORLANDO, FL  — Tiger Woods’ swing coach says criticism of his client is getting out of hand.

“I know everyone has a job to do, and I get it,” Sean Foley said this week on “Fairways of Life,” a radio show hosted by Matt Adams on XM Sirius. “But if it is about the game of golf, Tiger Woods is an extremely important part of the game, and I think everyone understands that. It has just gotten to the point where the tearing down of Tiger as a person and a golfer has become just too much. I think it is just out of hand.”

PROSPER, TEXAS —Police said late Tuesday that Deion Sanders, the former Dallas Cowboys star was cited for misdemeanor simple assault in the wake of an altercation with his estranged wife, Pilar, that got her arrested Monday at their mansion in the Dallas suburb of Prosper.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. –  Calvin Johnson has joined his Detroit Lions teammates for voluntary, care-free workouts this week.

Johnson had one season left on the contract he got as the No. 2 pick in the 2007 NFL draft when he signed an eight-year deal worth up to $132 million last month.

RIVERVIEW —Just as they did at the county championships, the Plant High girls and boys track squads dominated the distance races and scored plenty of points elsewhere to sweep the team titles in Wednesday’s Class 4A-District 6 meet at Leto.

Pictured: Tampa Bay Tech’s Deonte Williams (left) edges Plant’s Antonio Crawford to win the 100-meter dash at the 4A-District 6 meet Wednesday.

S Ron Girault and RB Robert Hughes have been signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaners.

Girault, who played for coach Greg Schiano at Rutgers, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Kansas City in 2008.

Most recently he played for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League.

Hughes entered the league as an undrafted free agent with Chicago in 2011 and spent the final two weeks of the season on the Bears practice squad.